Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Lettuce and Spring Onion on Human Health in Kumasi, Ghana

Urban Farm DB summary

This study in Kumasi, Ghana, assessed heavy metal concentrations in lettuce and spring onion cultivated at anthropogenic urban sites. It found that mean concentrations of nickel in lettuce (137.15 ± 0.0231 mg/kg) and spring onion (173.55 ± 0.02 mg/kg) at BSGS, and zinc in both vegetables across most sites, exceeded WHO/FAO permissible levels. Furthermore, the cancer risk factor for nickel in both lettuce and spring onion exceeded the benchmark of 1 × 10−6, indicating a potential increased cancer risk for consumers from long-term consumption.